I’m a single lady of a certain age, who’s been invited by a gentleman to spend New Year’s Eve in his company, dining and dancing at one of Washington, D.C.’s better venues. My companion will be wearing a tuxedo, and I shall be wearing a dark blue ball gown. What do you suggest?

Karen

Manolo says, this sounds like the wonderfully elegant and timeless way to spend the Eve of the New Year, eating the lobster thermidor, drinking the bubbly from the glass slipper, and waltzing right up until the stroke of midnight, the way it used to be done.

Yes, in most cases, the Manolo appreciates the manifest conveniences of the modern world, such as painless dentistry, and super absorbent paper towels.

However, when it comes to celebrations, fancy occasions, and holidays of note, the people of the previous generations truly knew how to throw the party. And while there are the few holdouts (such as the Manolo’s friend Karen) who still do it right, most Americans have forgotten what New Year’s Eve should be like.

We have mislaid our sense of occasion, and now show up to weddings, funerals, and christenings, (to say nothing of the New Year’s Eve’s celebrations) in clothing our predecessors would have thought unsuited for hoboes.

Thus, for one night each year, we should resolve to get dressed up like the old-timey movie stars, and party like it is 1949.

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Disclaimer: Manolo the Shoeblogger is not Mr. Manolo Blahnik. This website is not affiliated in any way with Mr. Manolo Blahnik, any products bearing the federally registered trademarks MANOlO®, BlAHNIK® or MANOlO BlAHNIK®, or any licensee of said federally registered trademarks. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the author.